


home

by bicroft



Series: Ho-Ho-Hockey RPF Advent Calendar 2018 [2]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Christmas Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash, but who cares at this point, technically this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 08:59:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16869979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bicroft/pseuds/bicroft
Summary: (for the Ho-Ho-Hockey RPF Advent Calendar 2018. Day 2: Home)This year, Eric’s in New York, his family’s in Thunder Bay, and Jordan’s alone.Alone, with Faulker.





	home

**Author's Note:**

> This is a self-imposed challenge of writing a holiday inspired fic every day leading up to Christmas for a random Hockey RPF ship! And, it's also technically three days late, but pobody's nerfect!
> 
> Today's prompt is "home."

It felt weird, not spending Christmas with Eric.

 

Jordan knew that was bullshit; they were _family_ , of course, but he’d never been overly co-dependent on his brothers. They were all hockey players, and when you play hockey, you got used to the idea of not being around your family all the time- especially around the holidays.

 

But, in Raleigh, Jordan had... forgotten, somehow. He’d gotten used to having Eric around, being with his brother for the holidays- for _every_ day, but for the holidays especially. This year, though- Eric’s in New York, his family’s in Thunder Bay, and Jordan’s alone.

 

Alone, with Faulker.

 

He didn’t even know that Faulker had stuck around for holidays, but lo and behold on Christmas morn, there he was standing outside Jordan’s door with a case of beer in hand and a Santa hat on his head that didn’t match his dour expression at all.

 

Jordan blinked at him a few times.

 

Faulker’s expression didn’t shift. “You gonna let me in?” he asked.

 

Jordan just blinked again, and Faulker finally just sighed and pushed his way inside. “Uh- Merry Christmas?” Jordan closed the door behind him, but he didn’t make any moves to do anything other than that. Faulker had gone straight to his kitchen- and, how the _fuck_ did Faulker know where his kitchen was without asking?- and was rummaging through the drawers for something.

 

“Merry Christmas.” He came back up with what he was looking for: a bottle opener, and then bundles both himself, the opener, and the case of beer back to Jordan’s living room, flopping down onto the couch. They just- stared at each other for a few moments after that, Jordan still standing by the door and Faulker looking more and more annoyed as the seconds passed. “You gonna sit, man?”

 

“Sure.” This was bizarre; every moment of this was bizarre, but Jordan sat down anyway, and took the beer that Faulker offered him.

 

They sat in silence for awhile before Jordan couldn’t take it anymore, and turned on the TV. He flipped through at random and settled on the first channel that was playing something Christmas related. Faulker didn’t say anything, but Jordan could see him raise his eyebrow at the choice from the corner of his gaze.

 

Neither of them spoke. Neither of them watched whatever movie was on. Both of them drank.

 

“You didn’t go home for the holidays?” Jordan finally asked.

 

Faukler gave him a look that clearly read ‘the fuck do you think?’ “No.”

 

Jordan forgot that trying to pry conversation out of Justin Faulk was very similar to trying to pry a pearl out of an oyster made of steel. “Why not?”

 

“Didn’t feel like it this year.” Faulker took another pull from his beer, and shrugged. “Figured you could do with the company.”

 

He said it like it was no big deal, like it was something that anyone would do for anyone- but, it struck Jordan as a little bit more than that because. Well, because it was _Faulker_. He wasn’t a bad guy, or an asshole, but he definitely wasn’t the first guy on the team who’d reach out to you if you looked like you were in a rough spot, or the guy who’d jump at an offer to hang out after hours. He and Jordan weren’t particularly close, either, so it was- weird, but... _sweet_. It was _sweet_ , that Faulker had thought of him enough to come over- but, the fact that it was _Faulker_ and _sweet_ in the same space made Jordan’s head spin a little bit.

 

“D’you think there’s anywhere open that’ll deliver today?” he asked.

 

Faulker snorted. “Doubt it.”

 

“Right.” Jordan downed the rest of his beer and stood, offering his hand to Faulker. “You’re helping me cook, then.”

 

“Do you even have _food_ , man?” Faulker asked, eyebrow arched ever more than usual.

 

“Probably,” Jordan shrugged, and Faulker rolled his eyes, but Jordan was sure he saw the barest hint of a smile somewhere in there.

 

They managed to pull together a halfway decent meal- and, more importantly, Jordan managed to coax a full body laugh out of Faulker when he nearly dropped a hot pan on himself after picking it up at the wrong time. “You’re a fuckin’ idiot, Staalsy,” he said, bumping their shoulders together.

 

Jordan wasn’t sure _why_ that made his stomach to flips, but. It did all the same.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to keep up with the challenge, check me out on tumblr @genobell (or, if you're finding this after the Christmas season, @sidsknees.)


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